Novak Djokovic reaches 3rd round

MONACO -- Seven-time defending champion Rafael Nadal and top-ranked Novak Djokovic began their clay-court seasons with comfortable wins Wednesday in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters.

Djokovic opened with a 6-1, 6-4 win against Andreas Seppi of Italy, and Nadal followed with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Jarkko Nieminen of Finland.

"I played a really normal match, nothing special. Nothing very bad, but nothing very good," said Nadal, who improved his overall record here to 40-1, including 38 straight wins. "First match on clay after a long time without touching a racket."

Nadal's last match was against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinals. He pulled out of his semifinal against Andy Murray to get treatment for a knee tendon problem, having skipped a chunk of the season to rest his knees following the Australian Open.

Nadal broke Nieminen's serve four times, and the Finn had a double-fault on match point.

"He's a very talented player, comes up with some shots that are not really typical for a tennis player," Djokovic said. "He comes up with some drop shots, changes the pace very much. That's why he's very dangerous on clay."

The 23-year-old Dolgopolov is confident of causing an upset. Although he lost in straight sets to Djokovic in the fourth round of last year's U.S. Open, the Serb had to work hard to take a tight first set 7-6 (14).

"After that, I think I can compete with him," Dolgopolov said. "I mean, he's No. 1, I'm No. 21. Obviously, he's higher in the ranking. He's playing more consistent. But I think I have my chances."